This week, REN21 released its annual global report of the state of renewable energy.

An analysis by Jennifer Johnson was published on Energy Digital’s webpage, listing 5 important insights to be learned from the report, which can be accessed here.

1. Renewables now supply almost a quarter of electricity worldwide
In 2015, the power sector experienced its largest ever annual increase in capacity, with wind energy and solar PV accounting for roughly 77 percent of new installations, and hydropower making up most of the remainder. By the end of the year, renewables were supplying 23.7 percent of global electricity, with hydropower contributing about 16.6 percent to this figure.

2. Wind is the largest source of new renewable power capacity
A record 63GW of wind power was added in 2015, bringing the global total to 433GW, with non-OECD countries responsible for the majority of installations. Additionally, most major turbine manufacturers broke their own installation records.

3. There is now double the investment in renewables than in coal-fired power
Last year, there was US $130 billion awarded to new coal and natural-gas fired power generation, while there was US $265.8 billion invested in renewable power capacity.

4. Investment in renewable power by developing countries surpassed that of developed counterparts
Renewable energy investment in developed countries declined by eight percent, to US $130 billion, in 2015. Countries in the developing world (including China, Brazil and India) dedicated a grand total of US $156.9 billion to installing renewable capacity, with China accounting for 102.9 billion of the composite figure.

5. Renewable heating and cooling faces a challenge from cheap oil
Three quarters of the energy used for heating and cooling worldwide is fossil fuel based. Renewables supply just eight percent of energy for heating and cooling services, and low oil prices have been blamed for the sluggish uptake of renewables in the sector.

The board of directors of Petrobras elected Pedro Pullen Parente as the company’s new CEO on Monday.

The company received on Monday a letter of resignation from Mr. Aldemir Bendine of Petrobras’ Board member and CEO positions. Additionally, Mr. Aldemir Bendine also resigned today, the office of Member of the Board of Petrobras Distribuidora – BR.

Mr. Parente, formerly the top executive at the Brazilian unit of U.S. agribusiness giant Bunge Ltd. and currently chairman of stock-market operator BM&FBovespa SA, will assume the top spot at Petrobras as it is facing a challenging scenario due to its high debt.

According to a Petrobras press release, Pedro Pullen Parente began his public service career at Banco do Brasil in 1971 and was transferred to the Central Bank in 1973, in both cases following public examination. He has been a consultant for the International Monetary Fund and public institutions in Brazil, including several State Departments and the National Constituent Assembly of 1988, and has occupied various government positions in the economics area. He was Minister of State between 1999 and 2002, having led the team handling the transition from President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government to President Lula’s administration. During this period, he played an important role as President of the Energy Crisis Management Chamber. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Petrobras between March 24, 1999 and December 31, 2002 and Chairman of the Board as of March 25, 2002. He was Chief Operating Officer of RBS Group between 2003 and 2009 and President and CEO of Bunge Brasil from 2010 to 2014. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of SBR-Global, as well as an Executive Partner of the Prada group of consulting and financial advisory companies. He has also been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BM&FBOVESPA – Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange since March 2015.

The Norwegian Constitution was signed in 17 May 1814. The celebration of the national day, officially referred to as Constitution Day, is a party like no other in Norway.

Children’s parades take place across the country, and led by marching bands they walk through their communities. The largest of the traditional parades attracts tens of thousands of people waving flags and shouting «hurra!». In Oslo, the parade is greeted by the royal family waving to the crowd.

17th of May celebrations in Rio de Janeiro

In Rio de Janeiro, the date was celebrated with a reception at the official residence hosted by Consul General Sissel Hodne Steen in the evening of the 16th, followed by a Norwegian breakfast and business seminar hosted by the Consulate General and the Norwegian Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

The topic chosen for the seminar was “Adapting to a changing O&G industry”, and the event had Jorge Camargo as main speaker, and he could share his experience as president of the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels, knows as IBP, and as former country president of Statoil do Brasil.

17th of May: The history in brief

The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll the 17th of May in 1814, but at the time Norway was in a union with Sweden, and for a few years in the 1820s king Karl Johan of Sweden actually banned the celebrations. The 17th of May became a larger event when Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (the writer of the national anthem, «Ja, vi elsker dette landet») took initiative to a children’s parade in the capital of Oslo (then: Christiania) in the 1860s.

Only boys were allowed in the parade until 1899, when the authorities at last came to their senses. The dissolution of the Sweden-Norway union happened in 1905, and the day got a whole new significance when the Second world war ended in the 8th of May 1945 – just before the national day. Needless to say, the celebrations had a really special atmosphere that year …

Read more about 17th of May happenings in different parts of Norway on Visit Norway’s webpage. And a big hurra for Norway! 🇳🇴🇳🇴

Here you can watch the final video clip of HRH Crown Prince Haakon official visit to Brazil.

On the last day of his visit, HRH went onboard the boat Maria Vitória and visited the nature reserve of Combú Island, where approximately 200 ribeirinho families live of fisheries and sustainable use of the natural surroundings.

In the third video clip shared by The Royal Palace, we can follow Crown Prince Haakon’s steps in his trip to Belém do Pará.

It was arranged an environmental seminar to discuss further cooperation in the efforts to reduce deforestation. Since the Amazon Fund was established in 2008, Norway has been the largest contributor to the fund, having invested ca. USD 1 billion. The fund supports projects that contribute to avoid, monitor and combat deforestation.

– The main lessons I draw from what Brazil and Norway are doing nationally and internationally are these: we must set ambitious goals, and we must engage in joint efforts – between countries, civil society, the scientific community and the private sector. Only then will we be able to achieve our ultimate goal: To hand this world over to the next generation in a better condition than it was handed over to us.

This is the second video continuing with the series of short clips shared by The Royal Palace, this time showing the visit to Rio de Janeiro.

Crown Prince Haakon attended the business seminars arranged on occasion of his visit to Rio and then visited a grocery shop to take part in a bacalhau tasting. The agenda in Rio de Janeiro also included a lunch with the State’s Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão and a visit to Petrobras research center CENPES.

In the afternoon, HRH participated in the delivery of a DNV GL certified ship by DOF Subsea and in the opening of Jotun’s new production plant.

In November 2015, Crown Prince Haakon came on an official visit to Brazil, starting his official agenda in the federal capital Brasilia. HRH met the Vice President Michel Temer to talk about the steadily strengthened bilateral cooperation.

– We also talked about our close bilateral cooperation on combating deforestation. Norway has provided 1 billion US dollars to support Brazil’s impressive progress in reducing deforestation. Brazil is truly a world leader in this area.

The Royal Palace has prepared a series of short clips showing a little more of the visit. Here is the first video.